“The gratitude can wait. I’ll lead you to your horses and we can get away.”
But Prince Ahmad shook his head. “We can’t leave without the piece of the Crystal in your husband’s possession.”
“I don’t know where it is,” Leila admitted, “and he’d never tell us of his own accord.”
“He could be made to talk,” Umar said with a most unpriestly tone of vengeance in his voice.
“You couldn’t even reach him,” Leila said. “He so fears assassination that he surrounds himself with guards night and day. These dungeons are filled with people who’ve tried to kill him—or who he’s imagined have tried. It’s all one and the same in his mind.”
A smile crossed Jafar’s face. “In situations like this,” he said, “I’ve found it helpful to empty all the prison cells—it adds to the general confusion. Please hand m
